Tech News : SONY's 3D TV Technology

The latest revival, dubbed "The 3D Wave" kicked off in 2003 with the release of the film Ghosts of the Abyss. Users now wear polarized glasses - rather than the standard red and green spectacle - with the resulting image "fooling" the brain into thinking it is 3D.


Meanwhile, the technology to capture in 3D - or create a virtual 3D image using conventional cameras - has also been getting cheaper and is now affordable by some traditional TV and satellite broadcasters. Sony hopes, by demonstrating what its technology is capable of, broadcasters will follow Hollywood's lead.


There are also signs that some of the bigger broadcasters are dipping a toe in the water. In 2008, the BBC broadcast the world's first live sporting event in 3D, beaming back an England vs. Scotland game from the Six Nations to a cinema in London.


In addition, the corporation's director of London 2012, Roger Mosey, said there were plans to capture some of the Olympics in 3D. "We could, and I believe should, capture some of the Games in 3D", he said. "Nobody would expect the Games of 2012 to be comprehensively in 3D because the technology will be nothing like widespread enough; but it would be a shame not to have any images of London that were part of an experiment with what will be one of the next big waves of change."


Sky has gone a step further, announcing in July that it would launch "the UK's first 3D channel" by 2010. However, Fergal Ringrose - editor of Europe's broadcast technology magazine, TVB Europe, told BBC News that Sky was in a rather unique position and that the majority of broadcasters were still reluctant to embrace 3D TV.


"Sky is going to be broadcasting through its existing high definition infrastructure, through its satellite network and then through the Sky set-top box. "Very few broadcasters are in the position to control the entire process. "We did a reader survey on 427 broadcasters across Europe and asked them if 3D TV was on the horizon. Only 15% said yes, and another 20% said they were looking at it as an option.


"That's somewhat underwhelming," he added.


SOURCE : BBC NEWS